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{{Short description|People of ancient west Asia}} | |||
{{Portal|Ancient Near East}} | |||
{{redirect-distinguish|Gutians|Gutian (disambiguation){{!}}Gutian}} | |||
{{Portal|Kurdistan}} | |||
{{For|people from the Gutian County of Ningde, Fujian, China|Fuzhou people}} | |||
The '''Gutians''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɡ|uː|t|i|ən|z}} (also '''Guteans''', '''Guti''', '''Quti''', '''Qurtie''', '''Qurti''', '''Kurti'''<ref>{{cite web|title=The Kingdom of Gutium|url=http://www.swartzentrover.com/cotor/bible/timelines/Babylon/Gutium.htm}}</ref> and '''Kurdu'''<ref name="Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East">{{cite book|title=Kurds/History|page=382|url=http://books.google.com.tr/books?id=stl97FdyRswC&pg=PA380&dq=kurds+guti&hl=tr&sa=X&ei=8BayUeKSOMWohAfTi4GoDQ&ved=0CF8Q6AEwCDgK#v=onepage&q=kurds%20guti&f=false}}</ref> ) were a tribe from northern and central ranges of the ] that overran southern ] when the ]ian empire collapsed in approximately 2154 BC. | |||
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=350|caption_align=center | |||
| align = right | |||
| direction =horizontal | |||
| header=Gutians | |||
| image1 =Tablet of Lugalannatum.jpg | |||
| caption1 = Tablet of ] | |||
| image2 = Gutium (name).jpg | |||
| caption2 = "Gutium" | |||
| image3= Near_East_topographic_map_with_toponyms_3000bc-en.svg | |||
| caption3=Approximate location of Gutium | |||
| footer='''Top:''' An inscription dated c. 2130 BC, mentioning the Gutians: "], prince of ] ... built the <small>''E.GIDRU''</small> Temple at ], buried his foundation deposit regulated the orders. At that time, ] was king of Gutium." The name {{cuneiform|𒄖𒋾𒌝𒆠}}, ''gu-ti-um<sup>KI</sup>'' appears in the last column. ].<br />'''Bottom:''' Approximate location of original Gutium territory | |||
}} | |||
The '''Guti''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɡ|uː|t|i|}}), also known by the derived ]s '''Gutians''' or '''Guteans''', were a people of the ancient Near East who both appeared and disappeared during the ]. Their homeland was known as '''Gutium''' (]: {{cuneiform|𒄖𒌅𒌝𒆠}}, ''Gutūm<sup>KI</sup>'' or {{cuneiform|𒄖𒋾𒌝𒆠}}, ''Gutium<sup>KI</sup>'').<ref>{{cite web|website=ETCSL |url=https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=c.2.1.1&display=Crit&charenc=gcirc&lineid=c211.308#c211.308 |title=The Sumerian King List line 308 |access-date=19 December 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|website=ETCSL |url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.2.1.5&display=Crit&charenc=gcirc&lineid=t215.p12#t215.p12 |title=The Cursing of Agade |access-date=18 December 2010}}</ref> | |||
Conflict between people from Gutium and the ] has been linked to the collapse of the empire, towards the end of the 3rd millennium BC. The Guti subsequently overran southern ] and formed the short lived ]. The ] suggests that the Guti ruled over ] for several generations following the fall of the Akkadian Empire.<ref>{{cite web|website=ETCSL |url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.2.1.1&display=Crit&charenc=gcirc&lineid=t211.p18#t211.p18 |title=Sumerian king list page 18}}</ref> | |||
By the mid 1st millennium BC, usage of the name Gutium, by the peoples of lowland ], had expanded to include all of northwestern ], between the ] and the ]. Various tribes and places to the east and northeast, regardless of ethnicity, were often referred to as ''Gutians'' or ''Gutium''.<ref>Parpola, S., "Neo-Assyrian Toponyms", (AOAT 6). Kevelaer and Neukirchen-Vluyn: Butzon & Bercker and Neukirchener Verlag, 1970</ref> For example, Assyrian royal annals use the term Gutians in relation to populations known to have been ] or ]ans. As late as the reign of ] of Persia, the famous general ] (Gobryas) was described as the "governor of Gutium".<ref>Oppenheim, A. Leo, "VIII. Assyrian and Babylonian Historical Texts", The Ancient Near East: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures, edited by James B. Pritchard, Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 246-286, 2011</ref> | |||
]ian sources portray the Gutians as a barbarous, ravenous people from '''Gutium''' or '''Qutium''' (]: Gu-tu-um<sup>ki</sup><ref>ETCSL. ''.'' Accessed 19 Dec 2010.</ref> or Gu-ti-um<sup>ki</sup><ref>ETCSL. '''' Accessed 18 Dec 2010.</ref>) in the mountains, presumably the central ] east of ] and north of ]. Gutium is also mentioned based in modern-day ]<ref name="From Culture to Ethnicity to Conflict: An Anthropological Perspective on International Ethnic Conflict">{{cite book|last=Eller|first=Jack David|title=Kurdish History and Kurdish Identity|page=153|url=http://books.google.com.tr/books?id=a8CxvhZfPYoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=From+Culture+to+Ethnicity+to+Conflict:+An+Anthropological+Perspective+on+...&hl=tr&sa=X&ei=nFBFUpXFCoSRswbrvICYAg&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=From%20Culture%20to%20Ethnicity%20to%20Conflict%3A%20An%20Anthropological%20Perspective%20on%20...&f=false}}</ref> The ] represents them as ruling over Sumer for a short time after the fall of the Akkadian Empire, and paints a picture of chaos within the ].<ref></ref> | |||
== Origin == | |||
Next to nothing is known about their origins, as no "Gutian" artifacts have surfaced from that time; little information is gleaned from the contemporary sources.<ref></ref> Nothing is known of ] either, apart from those Sumerian king names, and that it was distinct from other known languages of the region (such as ], ], ], ] and ]). | |||
] | |||
Little is known of the origins, material culture or language of the Guti, as contemporary sources provide few details and no artifacts have been positively identified.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8VnAk14pODsC&dq=The+First+Indo-Europeans+in+History+Henning+Guti&pg=PA171 |last1=Bryant |first1=Edwin |last2=Patton |first2=Laurie L. |date=2004 |title=The Indo-Aryan Controversy|publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780700714636 }}</ref> As the ] lacks a ], apart from some proper names, its similarities to other languages are impossible to verify. The names of Gutian kings suggest that the language was not closely related to any languages of the region, including ], ], ], ], and ]. Most scholars reject the attempt to link Gutian king names to Indo-European languages.<ref name="The Tarim Mummies">{{cite book |title=The Tarim Mummies |first1=J.P. |last1=Mallory |author1-link=J. P. Mallory |first2=Victor H. |last2=Mair |author2-link=Victor H. Mair |location=London |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-500-05101-6 |pages= |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/tarimmummiesanci00mall/page/281}}</ref> | |||
==History== | == History == | ||
=== 25th to 23rd centuries BC === | |||
] of ], holding an axe and a bow, trampling a foe. ], circa 2300-2000 BC. ], ].<ref name="JFO">{{cite book |last1=Osborne |first1=James F. |title=Approaching Monumentality in Archaeology |date=2014 |publisher=] |isbn=9781438453255 |page=123 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nvAQBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA123 |language=en}}</ref> The Gutians "were close neighbours, hardly to be distinguished" from the Lullubi.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Edwards |first1=I. E. S. |last2=Gadd |first2=C. J. |last3=Hammond |first3=N. G. L. |title=The Cambridge Ancient History |date=1971 |publisher=] |isbn=978-0-521-07791-0 |page=444 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=slR7SFScEnwC&pg=PA444 |language=en}}</ref>]] | |||
The Guti appear in texts from ] copies of inscriptions ascribed to ] (] circa ]) of ] as among the nations providing his empire tribute. These inscriptions locate them between ] in the north, and ] and ] in the south. | |||
] (r. circa 2340 – 2284 BC) also mentions them among his subject lands, listing them between ], ] and ] to the north; Nikku and ] to the south. According to one stele, ]'s army of 360,000 soldiers defeated the Gutian king Gula'an, despite having 90,000 slain by the Gutians. | |||
The epic '']'' claims ''Gutium'' among the lands raided by ] of ] during the reign of ] (c. 2254–2218 BC).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5P86eKIOJjgC&pg=PA709 |title=Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie |language=de |trans-title=Encyclopedia of Assyriology and Near Eastern Archaeology |last=Ebling |first=Bruno Erich|year=1928 |publisher=W. de Gruyter |isbn=9783110037050 }}</ref> Contemporary year-names for ] of Akkad indicate that in one unknown year of his reign, Shar-kali-sharri captured ] king of Gutium, while in another year, "the yoke was imposed on Gutium".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cdli.ucla.edu/tools/yearnames/HTML/T2K4.htm |title=Year-names for Sharkalisharri |publisher=]}}</ref> | |||
===Gutian dynasty of Sumer=== | |||
⚫ | {{ |
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=== Prominence during the early 22nd century BC === | |||
As Akkadian might went into a decline, the Gutians began to practice hit-and-run tactics on Mesopotamia; they would be long gone by the time forces could arrive to deal with the situation. Their raids crippled the economy of Sumer. Travel became unsafe, as did work in the fields, resulting in famine. The Gutians eventually overran Akkad, and as the King List tells us, their army also subdued ] for hegemony of Sumer — although it seems that autonomous rulers soon arose again in a number of city-states, notably ] of ]. The Gutians also seem to have briefly overrun ] at the close of ]'s reign, around the same time.<ref>Martin Sicker, 2000, ''The Pre-Islamic Middle East'', p. 19,</ref> and in an inscribed statue of Gutian king ] at ], in imitation of his Akkadian predecessors, he assumes the title "King of Gutium, King of the Four Quarters". | |||
{{see also|Gutian rule in Mesopotamia|Sumerian King List}} | |||
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=350|caption_align=center | |||
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| header=La-erabum, "Great King of Gutiim" | |||
| image1 = Votive_mace_head_mentioning_the_name_of_La-arab,_king_of_Gutium,_c._2150_BCE,_from_Sippar,_Iraq._British_Museum.jpg | |||
| image2 = Laerabum_mace_inscription_(name).jpg | |||
| footer=Votive macehead of Gutian king ], and its inscription "La-eraab, great King of Gutiim" ({{cuneiform|𒆷𒂍𒊏𒀊 𒁕𒈝 𒈗 𒄖𒋾𒅎}} ''la-e-ra-ab da-num lugal gutiim''). The name is quite damaged, and was initially read "Lasiraab".<ref>{{cite book |title=The Sumerian Kings List |page=119, note 305 |url=https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/as11.pdf}}</ref> ] (BM 90852) | |||
}} | |||
During the Akkadian Empire period the Gutians slowly grew in strength and then established a capital at the Early Dynastic city of Adab.<ref>M. Molina, "The palace of Adab during the Sargonic period", D. Wicke (ed.), Der Palast im antiken und islamischen Orient, Colloquien der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft 9, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2019, pp. 151-20</ref> The Gutians eventually overran Akkad, and as the King List tells us, their army also subdued ] for hegemony of Sumer, in about 2147–2050 BC. However, it seems that autonomous rulers soon arose again in a number of city-states, notably ] of ]. | |||
The Gutians seem also to have briefly overrun ] at around the same time, towards the close of ]'s reign (c. 2100 BC).<ref>{{cite book|first=Martin |last=Sicker |date=2000 |title=The Pre-Islamic Middle East |pages=19}}</ref> On a statue of the Gutian king ] at ], an inscription imitates his Akkadian predecessors, styling him "King of Gutium, King of the Four Quarters". | |||
According to the Sumerian king list, "In the army of Gutium, at first no king was famous; they were their own kings and ruled thus for 3 years." | |||
The ] |
The ] (written c. 500 BC), portrays the Gutian kings as uncultured and uncouth: | ||
⚫ | {{blockquote|''Naram-Sin destroyed the people of ], so twice ] summoned the forces of ] against him. Marduk gave his kingship to the Gutian force. The Gutians were unhappy people unaware how to revere the gods, ignorant of the right cultic practices. | ||
⚫ | ''], the fisherman, caught a fish at the edge of the sea for an offering. That fish should not be offered to another god until it had been offered to Marduk, but the Gutians took the boiled fish from his hand before it was offered, so by his august command, Marduk removed the Gutian force from the rule of his land and gave it to Utu-hengal.''}} | ||
=== Decline from the late 22nd century BC onwards === | |||
⚫ | |||
], Prince of the Sumerian city of Uruk, praying for victory against the Gutian king ].]] | |||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | The Sumerian ruler ], Prince of the Sumerian city of Uruk is similarly credited on the King List with defeating the Gutian ruler ], and removing the Guti from the country in circa 2050 BC (]).<ref name="ox">{{cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.2.1.6&display=Crit&charenc=gcirc&lineid=t216.p1#t216.p1 |website=ETCSL |title=The victory of Utu-ḫeĝal}}</ref> | ||
In his Victory Stele, Utu-hengal wrote about the Gutians: | |||
⚫ | The Sumerian ruler Utu-hengal of Uruk is similarly credited on the King List with defeating the Gutian ruler ], and removing the Guti from the country |
||
] victory stele, where he describes the Gutians he vanquished as "the fanged snake of the mountain ranges". ], AO 6018.<ref name="cdli.ucla.edu">Full transcription and translation in: {{cite web |title=CDLI-Found Texts |url=https://cdli.ucla.edu/search/search_results.php?SearchMode=Text&ObjectID=P433096 |website=cdli.ucla.edu}}</ref>]] | |||
{{blockquote| | |||
Gutium, the fanged snake of the mountain ranges, a people who acted violently against the gods, people who the kingship of Sumer to the mountains took away, who Sumer with wickedness filled, who from one with a wife his wife took away from him, who from one with a child his child took away from him, who wickedness and violence produced within the country..."|Victory Stele of Utu-Hengal<ref name="cdli.ucla.edu">Full transcription and translation in: {{cite web |title=CDLI-Found Texts |url=https://cdli.ucla.edu/search/search_results.php?SearchMode=Text&ObjectID=P433096 |website=cdli.ucla.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thureau-Dangin |first1=Fr. |title=La Fin de la Domination Gutienne |language=fr |trans-title=The End of Gutian Domination |journal=Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale |date=1912 |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=111–120 |jstor=23283609 |issn=0373-6032}}</ref>}} | |||
Following this, ] of ] ordered the destruction of Gutium. The year 11 of king ] also mentions "Year Gutium was destroyed".<ref>{{cite web |title=Year names of Ur-Nammu |url=https://cdli.ucla.edu/tools/yearnames/HTML/T6K1.htm |website=cdli.ucla.edu}}</ref> However, according to a Sumerian epic, Ur-Nammu died in battle with the Gutians, after having been abandoned by his own army. | |||
==Gutium as a later geographic term== | |||
In the first millennium BC, the term "Gutium" was used to refer to the region between the ] and the ], also known as western ]. All tribes to the east and northeast who often had hostile relations with the peoples of lowland Mesopotamia, were referred to as ''Gutian'' <ref name="iranicagutians">{{cite web|last=Van De Mieroop|first=Marc|title=GUTIANS|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/gutians|work=Encyclopædia Iranica|accessdate=29 March 2012}}</ref> or ''Guti''. Assyrian royal annals use the term ''Gutians'' to refer to Iranian populations otherwise known as ] or ]ans; and as late as the reign of ] of Persia, the famous general ] (Gobryas) was described as the "governor of Gutium". | |||
A Babylonian text from the early 2nd millennium refers to the Guti as having a "human face, dogs’ cunning, monkey's build".<ref>Ansky, S.. "The Cursing of Akkade". The Harps that Once..., edited by David G. Roskies, New Haven: Yale University Press, pp. 359-374, 1992</ref> | |||
== Gutian language == | |||
Some ]s believe that the Guti may be the ''Qoa'', named with the ''Shoa'' and '']'' as enemies of Jerusalem in ] 23:23,<ref>See, for example, {{cite book|first1=J. D. |last1=Douglas |first2=Merrill C. |last2=Tenney |date=2011 |title=Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary |edition=3rd |publisher=] |pages=1897}}</ref> which was probably written in the 6th century BC. | |||
{{Main|Gutian language}} | |||
{{History of Greater Iran}} | |||
==Physical appearance== | |||
⚫ | == References == | ||
According to the historian ] (1901), Assyriologist ] (1908), renowned archaeologist ] (1929) and Assyriologist ] (1944) the Gutians were pale skinned and blonde haired.<ref>"The Early History of Babylonia", Henry H. Howorth, The English Historical Review, Vol. 16, No. 61 (Jan. 1901), p.32.</ref><ref>The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia, Theophilus Goldridge Pinches, Kessinger Publishing, 2005 (reprint), p. 158</ref><ref>''The Sumerians'', Leonard Woolley, Clarendon Press, 1929, p. 5.</ref><ref>''Hurrians and Subarians'', Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization, Gelb, 1944, p.88.</ref> This identification of the Gutians as fair haired first came to light when ] (1877) published a set of tablets he had discovered which described Gutian (and Subarian) slaves as ''namrum'' or ''namrûtum'', meaning "light colored" or "fair-skinned".<ref>Gelb, 1944, p. 43</ref><ref>Gelb, 1944, p. 88 - further translates a tablet passage as "a light (-coloured) slave girl who is pleasing to your eye."</ref> This racial character of the Gutians as blondes or being light skinned was also taken up by ] in 1899 and later by historian Sidney Smith in his ''Early history of Assyria'' (1928).<ref>''Der Arier und seine bedeutung für die gemeinschaft'', Georges Vacher de Lapouge, M. Diesterweg, 1939.</ref><ref>''Early history of Assyria'', Vol. 1, 1928, p. 72: "...one notable physical trait the Subaraeans and Gutians shared. Documents of the period of the Babylonian Amorite or First Dynasty mention slaves from Gutium and Subir (that is, Subartu), and specify that they shall be of fair complexion".</ref> ] however criticised the translation of "namrum" as "light colored". An article was published by Speiser in the '']'' attacking Gelb's translation.<ref>''Were the ancient Gutians really blond and Indo-Europeans?'', JAOS 50 (1930) p.338.</ref> Gelb in response accused Speiser of circular reasoning.<ref>Gelb 1944, p.43: "Speiser's...reaction against the normal interpretation of namrum as 'light (-colored)' was caused by... assumption that Hurrians or Subarians belonged to the Armenoid race, which according to them could hardly be called light-colored".</ref> In response Speiser claimed the scholarship regarding the translation of "namrum" or "namrûtum" is unresolved.<ref>''Hurrians and Subarians'', E. A. Speiser, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 68, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1948), p. 12.</ref> | |||
==Modern connection theories== | |||
The historical Guti have been regarded by some as among the ancestors of the ].<ref>{{cite web|title=How to Get Out of Iraq with Integrity|url=http://books.google.com.tr/books?id=idhMxAdrEqkC&printsec=frontcover&hl=tr#v=onepage&q&f=false}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Middle East: A Reader|url=http://books.google.com.tr/books?id=kzrFOhXDp5wC&pg=PA123&dq=kurds+guti&hl=tr&sa=X&ei=OhWyUaaOKZKyhAfh44CgDw&ved=0CFgQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=kurds%20guti&f=false}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East|url=http://books.google.com.tr/books?id=stl97FdyRswC&pg=PA380&dq=kurds+guti&hl=tr&sa=X&ei=8BayUeKSOMWohAfTi4GoDQ&ved=0CF8Q6AEwCDgK#v=onepage&q=kurds%20guti&f=false}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Peoples of the Near East Without a National Future|url=http://books.google.com.tr/books?id=g18DAAAAMAAJ&q=kurds+guti&dq=kurds+guti&hl=tr&sa=X&ei=XByyUZeCFZGihgeGvYG4BA&ved=0CGYQ6AEwCThG}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Central Asiatic Journal|url=http://books.google.com.tr/books?id=fzvjAAAAMAAJ&q=kurds+guti&dq=kurds+guti&hl=tr&sa=X&ei=sx2yUb3KMo3whQfQsICgAg&ved=0CEcQ6AEwBThk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Great Soviet encylopedia|url=http://books.google.com.tr/books?id=_00NAQAAMAAJ&q=kurds+guti&dq=kurds+guti&hl=tr&sa=X&ei=sx2yUb3KMo3whQfQsICgAg&ved=0CFoQ6AEwCDhk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Art and Archaelogy|url=http://books.google.com.tr/books?id=ta7RAAAAMAAJ&q=kurds+guti&dq=kurds+guti&hl=tr&sa=X&ei=sx2yUb3KMo3whQfQsICgAg&ved=0CGAQ6AEwCThk}}</ref> However, the term Guti had by late antiquity become a "catch all" term to describe all tribal peoples in the Zagros region, and according to J.P. Mallory, the original Gutians precede the arrival of ] peoples (of which the Kurds are one) by some 1500 years<ref>Mallory, J.P. (1989), In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology, and Myth, London: Thames & Hudson.</ref> | |||
In the late 19th-century, Assyriologist ] sought to connect the Gutians of remote antiquity with the later ] (Goths), whom ] in 150 AD had known as the ], a tribe of ]. Oppert's theory on this connection is not shared by many scholars today, in the absence of further evidence. | |||
⚫ | ==References== | ||
{{Reflist}} | {{Reflist}} | ||
{{Ancient Mesopotamia topics}} | |||
{{Ancient Syria and Mesopotamia}} | {{Ancient Syria and Mesopotamia}} | ||
⚫ | {{Rulers of Sumer}} | ||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gutian People}} | {{DEFAULTSORT:Gutian People}} | ||
] | ] | ||
] | ] | ||
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Latest revision as of 16:56, 19 December 2024
People of ancient west Asia "Gutians" redirects here. Not to be confused with Gutian. For people from the Gutian County of Ningde, Fujian, China, see Fuzhou people. GutiansTablet of Lugalanatum"Gutium"Approximate location of GutiumTop: An inscription dated c. 2130 BC, mentioning the Gutians: "Lugalanatum, prince of Umma ... built the E.GIDRU Temple at Umma, buried his foundation deposit regulated the orders. At that time, Siium was king of Gutium." The name 𒄖𒋾𒌝𒆠, gu-ti-um appears in the last column. Louvre Museum.Bottom: Approximate location of original Gutium territory
The Guti (/ˈɡuːti/), also known by the derived exonyms Gutians or Guteans, were a people of the ancient Near East who both appeared and disappeared during the Bronze Age. Their homeland was known as Gutium (Sumerian: 𒄖𒌅𒌝𒆠, Gutūm or 𒄖𒋾𒌝𒆠, Gutium). Conflict between people from Gutium and the Akkadian Empire has been linked to the collapse of the empire, towards the end of the 3rd millennium BC. The Guti subsequently overran southern Mesopotamia and formed the short lived Gutian dynasty of Sumer. The Sumerian king list suggests that the Guti ruled over Sumer for several generations following the fall of the Akkadian Empire.
By the mid 1st millennium BC, usage of the name Gutium, by the peoples of lowland Mesopotamia, had expanded to include all of northwestern Iran, between the Zagros Mountains and the Tigris River. Various tribes and places to the east and northeast, regardless of ethnicity, were often referred to as Gutians or Gutium. For example, Assyrian royal annals use the term Gutians in relation to populations known to have been Medes or Mannaeans. As late as the reign of Cyrus the Great of Persia, the famous general Gubaru (Gobryas) was described as the "governor of Gutium".
Origin
Little is known of the origins, material culture or language of the Guti, as contemporary sources provide few details and no artifacts have been positively identified. As the Gutian language lacks a text corpus, apart from some proper names, its similarities to other languages are impossible to verify. The names of Gutian kings suggest that the language was not closely related to any languages of the region, including Sumerian, Akkadian, Hurrian, Hittite, and Elamite. Most scholars reject the attempt to link Gutian king names to Indo-European languages.
History
25th to 23rd centuries BC
The Guti appear in texts from Old Babylonian copies of inscriptions ascribed to Lugal-Anne-Mundu (fl. circa 25th century BC) of Adab as among the nations providing his empire tribute. These inscriptions locate them between Subartu in the north, and Marhashe and Elam in the south.
Sargon the Great (r. circa 2340 – 2284 BC) also mentions them among his subject lands, listing them between Lullubi, Armanum and Akkad to the north; Nikku and Der to the south. According to one stele, Naram-Sin of Akkad's army of 360,000 soldiers defeated the Gutian king Gula'an, despite having 90,000 slain by the Gutians.
The epic Cuthean Legend of Naram-Sin claims Gutium among the lands raided by Annubanini of Lulubum during the reign of Naram-Sin (c. 2254–2218 BC). Contemporary year-names for Shar-kali-sharri of Akkad indicate that in one unknown year of his reign, Shar-kali-sharri captured Sharlag king of Gutium, while in another year, "the yoke was imposed on Gutium".
Prominence during the early 22nd century BC
See also: Gutian rule in Mesopotamia and Sumerian King List La-erabum, "Great King of Gutiim"Votive macehead of Gutian king La-erabum, and its inscription "La-eraab, great King of Gutiim" (𒆷𒂍𒊏𒀊 𒁕𒈝 𒈗 𒄖𒋾𒅎 la-e-ra-ab da-num lugal gutiim). The name is quite damaged, and was initially read "Lasiraab". British Museum (BM 90852)During the Akkadian Empire period the Gutians slowly grew in strength and then established a capital at the Early Dynastic city of Adab. The Gutians eventually overran Akkad, and as the King List tells us, their army also subdued Uruk for hegemony of Sumer, in about 2147–2050 BC. However, it seems that autonomous rulers soon arose again in a number of city-states, notably Gudea of Lagash.
The Gutians seem also to have briefly overrun Elam at around the same time, towards the close of Kutik-Inshushinak's reign (c. 2100 BC). On a statue of the Gutian king Erridupizir at Nippur, an inscription imitates his Akkadian predecessors, styling him "King of Gutium, King of the Four Quarters".
The Weidner Chronicle (written c. 500 BC), portrays the Gutian kings as uncultured and uncouth:
Naram-Sin destroyed the people of Babylon, so twice Marduk summoned the forces of Gutium against him. Marduk gave his kingship to the Gutian force. The Gutians were unhappy people unaware how to revere the gods, ignorant of the right cultic practices. Utu-hengal, the fisherman, caught a fish at the edge of the sea for an offering. That fish should not be offered to another god until it had been offered to Marduk, but the Gutians took the boiled fish from his hand before it was offered, so by his august command, Marduk removed the Gutian force from the rule of his land and gave it to Utu-hengal.
Decline from the late 22nd century BC onwards
The Sumerian ruler Utu-hengal, Prince of the Sumerian city of Uruk is similarly credited on the King List with defeating the Gutian ruler Tirigan, and removing the Guti from the country in circa 2050 BC (short chronology).
In his Victory Stele, Utu-hengal wrote about the Gutians:
Gutium, the fanged snake of the mountain ranges, a people who acted violently against the gods, people who the kingship of Sumer to the mountains took away, who Sumer with wickedness filled, who from one with a wife his wife took away from him, who from one with a child his child took away from him, who wickedness and violence produced within the country..."
— Victory Stele of Utu-Hengal
Following this, Ur-Nammu of Ur ordered the destruction of Gutium. The year 11 of king Ur-Nammu also mentions "Year Gutium was destroyed". However, according to a Sumerian epic, Ur-Nammu died in battle with the Gutians, after having been abandoned by his own army.
A Babylonian text from the early 2nd millennium refers to the Guti as having a "human face, dogs’ cunning, monkey's build". Some biblical scholars believe that the Guti may be the Qoa, named with the Shoa and Pekod as enemies of Jerusalem in Ezekiel 23:23, which was probably written in the 6th century BC.
References
- "The Sumerian King List line 308". ETCSL. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
- "The Cursing of Agade". ETCSL. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
- "Sumerian king list page 18". ETCSL.
- Parpola, S., "Neo-Assyrian Toponyms", (AOAT 6). Kevelaer and Neukirchen-Vluyn: Butzon & Bercker and Neukirchener Verlag, 1970
- Oppenheim, A. Leo, "VIII. Assyrian and Babylonian Historical Texts", The Ancient Near East: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures, edited by James B. Pritchard, Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 246-286, 2011
- Bryant, Edwin; Patton, Laurie L. (2004). The Indo-Aryan Controversy. Routledge. ISBN 9780700714636.
- Mallory, J.P.; Mair, Victor H. (2000). The Tarim Mummies. London: Thames & Hudson. pp. 281–282. ISBN 978-0-500-05101-6.
- Osborne, James F. (2014). Approaching Monumentality in Archaeology. SUNY Press. p. 123. ISBN 9781438453255.
- Edwards, I. E. S.; Gadd, C. J.; Hammond, N. G. L. (1971). The Cambridge Ancient History. Cambridge University Press. p. 444. ISBN 978-0-521-07791-0.
- Ebling, Bruno Erich (1928). Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie [Encyclopedia of Assyriology and Near Eastern Archaeology] (in German). W. de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110037050.
- "Year-names for Sharkalisharri". University of California Los Angeles.
- The Sumerian Kings List (PDF). p. 119, note 305.
- M. Molina, "The palace of Adab during the Sargonic period", D. Wicke (ed.), Der Palast im antiken und islamischen Orient, Colloquien der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft 9, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2019, pp. 151-20
- Sicker, Martin (2000). The Pre-Islamic Middle East. p. 19.
- "The victory of Utu-ḫeĝal". ETCSL.
- ^ Full transcription and translation in: "CDLI-Found Texts". cdli.ucla.edu.
- Thureau-Dangin, Fr. (1912). "La Fin de la Domination Gutienne" [The End of Gutian Domination]. Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale (in French). 9 (3): 111–120. ISSN 0373-6032. JSTOR 23283609.
- "Year names of Ur-Nammu". cdli.ucla.edu.
- Ansky, S.. "The Cursing of Akkade". The Harps that Once..., edited by David G. Roskies, New Haven: Yale University Press, pp. 359-374, 1992
- See, for example, Douglas, J. D.; Tenney, Merrill C. (2011). Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary (3rd ed.). HarperCollins. p. 1897.
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